Germany

Blog 1

Hallo from Deutschland! I hope y’all are having a great year so far. I’ve been in Germany for exactly 25 days total so far (counting 1. September as a full day) and I’ve been really happy here! While in Germany, I’m taking the LAN 340 course (as we all are). It’s been interesting to look at the academic side of learning a language in a new environment and culture, as well as how language shapes the way we think as different societies. There was mention in one of our readings about talking to as many people as possible (store clerks, bus drivers, people on the street) whenever needing to ask for help, which I’ve decided to implement into my time here. I can’t count the number of times I’ve asked a random person for clarification, most often when on the train and an announcement was made. There’s been too many times that it’s been too loud and I haven’t been able to hone in on the actual meaning of the announcement, but that’s okay. People are always very open to explaining things, especially once they can tell that German isn’t my first language.  

I’m in the fourth week of Dortmund’s German intensive course at the moment and I’m very, very thankful that they have it. We’ve been practicing our vocabulary a lot in the course (especially verbs; we’re expected to memorize the conjugations of 8 verbs every night and we compete to see who can say them fastest) and we do a lot of great overall review. There’s been a lot of social events here as well, which are great places to practice speaking in German, but I would end up writing a short novel if I were to go into detail about everything.  

Anyway, I’m having a great time here thus far and I’m excited to see where the world takes me. I’m fairly certain I’m going to Berlin next week, so that’s exciting! 

Blog 2

Hallo Zusammen! 

The first two (almost three!) months here in Germany have been amazing. It’s been interesting getting into the nitty-gritty of learning about people’s cultures now, as I’ve grown to realize that with so many exchange students all in one place, there are many differences between us. Ironically enough, this actually brings many of the exchange students closer together, at least in my opinion. One conversation that I’ve had multiple times is the difference between the way Europeans measure things and the way Americans measure things, as we have completely different systems. This is something I actually quite like talking about, as I definitely agree that the metric system is easier to use… if I understood it outside of engineering problems. With languages, I’ve learned to never assume that someone knows English just because they’re in Europe; there’s a lot of people that I’ve met here that have an A2 understanding of English at best, so we’ll speak completely in German with each other. I’ve also learned to ask people’s specific experiences of their own cultures or countries so I can get a slightly better view on what it may be like to live in those countries. I don’t want to have just a single story or single opinion about somewhere I’ve never been, so I’ve been making an effort to ask as many questions as I can. I want to understand people and learn as much as I can about them, as I’ve not only made German friends, but friends from all over the world that are also exchange students here. Considering that people love to be asked about themselves (myself included), I think that simply asking people is the best way to go about learning. So far I haven’t been proved wrong and I’m incredibly thankful that people are so eager to share and learn, just as I am.

Blog 3

Moin moin! 🙂 

As of today (December 1st), I’ve been in Germany for 3 months. That’s insane to me to think about. There’s been many, many interesting experiences I’ve had here and I think this would turn into a novella if I were to talk about all of them. But for now, we’re focusing on community networking. If there’s one piece of advice that I can give to future IGP Abroad students: do not spend all of your time with other exchange students. Make friends that are actually living in Germany and are from here. I don’t mean this in a mean way, but in the way of when you’re friends with German people, they’re far more likely to speak German with you and not phase back into English. Make sure to join extra-curricular activities as well, as the classes for German are full of non-native speakers, obviously. I’ve joined three extra-curriculars while here, being Tae Kwon Do, fencing, and kickboxing. Through these classes, I’ve been able to make friends that aren’t strictly exchange students. There’s one specific girl in my TKD class that I’ve been slowly building a friendship with, but I accidentally kicked her in the neck during sparring and I’m hoping that doesn’t make her shy away from me in the future (she’s okay, it was a love-tap at worst and she was moreso just mentally shocked than anything, haha). Start reaching out to internship opportunities quickly when arriving, as well. TU Dortmund offers applications from a link right on the school website, which is wonderful as a way to start looking. Another great way to reach out to people is asking professors for any recommendations they may have; it’s intimidating to ask for that kind of help, but they’re all more than willing to help as long as you reach out to them for it.  

In terms of pedagogy (the method and practice of teaching), university courses are structured in a very different way. You’ll have class likely once a week, twice at most. For engineering courses, I’ve found that one day is for lectures strictly and one day is for putting that information into practice. There are rarely graded assignments so far, but those graded assignments are extremely important, so make sure to do them. I know finals will be worth most of the grade in these courses, which I’m not looking forward to, so I’m expecting to do a ridiculous amount of studying.  

The last piece of advice I can think of in making a larger social network here is to have bravery in every conversation. People can tell that you’re not a native speaker at times, but don’t let that stop you. Reach out to people to hang out in social terms, apply for that internship, ask a professor for help. No matter what you do, making an effort is the best way to get on someone’s good side in Germany. 

Blog 4

Wow, I can’t believe I’m on my last blog post already. It’s odd knowing that the semester at NAU is ending now, meanwhile I’m only halfway through my semester here. This time, I’ll be going over what information may be useful for y’all’s future IGP experiences here. The first thing I can think to say is make SURE to make friends that are actually from Germany. Don’t just hang out with other international students, even though it’s really tempting to a lot of the time. Make an effort to speak in German as much as possible and meet new people that aren’t also American. This can also be helpful in a professional sense, as having friends that are already in Germany and have lived here for their entire lives can lead to connections that they know of from their time here. Make sure to listen to people when they tell you about their experiences, but definitely keep in mind that one person’s experience isn’t the same as everyone else’s. Search out as many opinions as you can to avoid having a single story about something (this can help in avoiding building bias! :).) Outside of socially, do not skip class. At TU Dortmund, you’re allowed to miss class twice before you can’t get credit for the course as a whole. Class is only held once or twice a week as well, so missing class once can throw you behind for an entire week and that’s very, very jarring.  

In a professional sense, don’t have fear to reach out for help. There are advisors here whose jobs are specifically to help you with finding an internship, but you have to be sure to ask for their help. You won’t get it otherwise. I don’t have professional experience yet, so I can’t write about that just yet. In courses, definitely take as many as you can, too. I’m currently taking five language courses here and I’ll have at MOST one assignment to do per night if I don’t just do them all the night that they’re assigned. Do as much as you can, participate as much as you can, join extra curriculars, do everything! Being open to these new experiences will push you so much farther into German culture than staying in your comfort zone, so get out of there! I hope y’all have enjoyed reading all our updates so far and I wish you the best of luck in the future.  

Blog 1

Hallo zusammen!  

I am currently in my fourth week of living in Konstanz, Germany and now that I am writing this, I can’t believe I have already been abroad for an entire month! That is crazy! It has been an interesting ride so far to say the least. I arrived in Germany with my mother, who is fluent in German. So my first couple of days she did all the talking and I took the opportunity to observe and listen to her interacting with other people. Such as employees or people on the street. But once she left and I was on my own, it has been amusing and frustrating in my attempts to communicate with locals. People are extremely kind and patient, so I have not had a bad experience yet when trying to speak German, but it can be very frustrating. I have been in an intensive language class (GO-Konstanz) the past three weeks and I am very grateful for it because the teachers have been incredible and it has really pushed me to speak German but in a relaxed environment. My teacher, Rheto, is absolutely amazing. He teaches the class and encourages you to speak German in a way that is not pushy or intimidating. It has been a real safe environment for me to speak and not feel embarrassed when I make a mistake but rather excited to learn from my mistakes. It has been difficult to practice my German outside of class because the school year does not officially begin for another month, so I have primarily been socializing with other exchange students from all over the world and we communicate in English. I am excited for my roommates to come as they are from Germany and hopefully they will be kind enough to speak with me in German and improve my language skills. If I am being completely honest, speaking has been extremely frustrating for me. In class and during presentations and tours, I am able to understand the topics almost completely but the moment it’s my turn to speak, my mind decides to go blank. That’s why I am eager for more German students to arrive and a program similar to conversation groups back at NAU to begin. But if all else fails, I can proudly say that I am an expert on ordering ice cream in German. 

Blog 2

Hallo zusammen!!! 

To begin, I wasn’t completely blind to German culture before moving to Germany and wasn’t hit hard with culture shock at all. My mom grew up in Germany and I have visited family a few times in my lifetime. So I was aware of some cultural differences and traditions. But having traditions at home and visiting Germany is completely different from actually living here.  I like to think I am a very open minded person and not quick to judge at all. As the saying goes “don’t judge a book by its cover” and I find that true for every single little thing in life. Since living abroad, I have taken even more time to step back and listen to every individual and hear the full story before creating my own opinion. Something everyone should think about while going about life is that there is always more to the story than meets the eye. If you take the time to slow down and hear everything, it can really change your perspective on certain situations. Being in a new country with a different culture and different language, this idea is taken to a whole new level. Not only am I learning a language, I am learning another way of living life and at the same time getting the chance to teach others about American culture as well. Having multilingual capabilities opens up a whole new world for you (not to sound cheesy). The capability to understand an entire culture because you can communicate well with them is an amazing feeling. Although I am still poor at communicating in German, every time I get the chance to talk to someone I get giddy with excitement and pride. I am able to communicate with someone I otherwise would not have been able to and that blows my mind! And over the next couple of months my language skills are only going to get better.  Intercultural competence is truly an exciting feeling and I think everyone should get the chance to learn a different language. 

Blog 3

Hallo Zusammen!  

This week we discussed networks and creating connections abroad. Creating connections was not difficult as the school makes it easy through their intensive language course, GO-Konstanz. You make friends quickly in your class that lasts about four weeks long before the semester even begins and the people I met in GO-Konstanz are still my closest friends now. All my friends are primarily international friends, and it has proven a little difficult for me to make German friends. Two of my roommates are German and I enjoy speaking with them and having them help me with my grammar homework and watch them become confused. I also have a Tandempartner who I meet with once a week to speak German and English and it is a very nice and relaxing environment to learn German. I’d suggest getting involved at the school in clubs or sports that may interest you. All universities have a large selection of clubs and sports to join.  

I really enjoy my classes here. I decided to take all German courses and focus on my language progression. Classes here are extremely different from what I am used to. Most classes meet once a week which I find a bit frustrating because I feel that if we met more, the better it would be for my learning, but German universities are heavy on the “study on your own” idea. There is rarely homework, so you really are on your own in that aspect. If you want to study and learn your material you have to make an effort outside of the classroom which has proven to be a little difficult for me. 

Blog 4

The semester is coming to an end soon (well, kind of)! About a month and a half left and then we won’t be students for a while but interns! Crazy to think about but I’m excited to get a small taste of hands-on work in my field as opposed to lectures and studying all day. This module we discussed the different cultures around the world and how the different cultural dimensions may affect how one internship in one country contrasts to another internship in another country.  

 I really have no idea what to expect from my internship because what we discussed in the module is much more professional and more tied to common workplaces in each country. I feel as if my internship which will most likely be tied to the school in some way will be more relaxed than an actual job I may find in Germany. But after reading about the different cultural dimensions in Germany and comparing them to the U.S. I have a feeling I am going to experience something much different than any job or work-related experience I have had so far in my young life. The schooling aspect here has already been so different. More independent work and counting on yourself to study and learn the material properly enough to complete the course with a good grade. It has been a challenge for sure but you also know there are people to reach out to if you need help. You’re just more on your own here, teachers trust you to learn the material instead of hound you to do the homework and study for quizzes and exams.   

 I feel as if I may have a similar experience during my internship where I may be expected to know what’s going on and how to do it and follow the rules and regulations to a T, but everyone I have reached out to in search for an internship or research opportunity have been extremely kind and helpful so I am not too nervous. I am ready for this next step during my time in Germany and hopefully will be integrated more into German culture and meet more amazing people!